A villain in a play can never be anything more than a diabolus ex machina, possibly a more exciting expedient than a deus ex machina, but both equally mechanical, and therefore interesting only as mechanism.

戏剧中的恶棍永远不过是一个 diabolus ex machina，可能比 deus ex machina 更令人兴奋的权宜之计，但两者同样机械，因此仅作为机制才有趣。